This invention relates to and has among its objects the provision of a novel apparatus for separating objects of different sizes or shapes and finds particular use in separating fruits, vegetables and other agricultural crops from twigs, leaves and other trash.
Presently, the primary method of harvesting vegetables is by the use of hand labor. This requires a large number of workers as the optimum period of harvesting is short relative to the growing period. In most cases the hand picking of vegetables is very arduous, thus, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain pickers. This shortage of hand harvest labor results in the loss of vegetable crop which is not harvested.
Where hand harvest labor is available, increases in labor costs contribute significantly to the production costs and increase final product costs. In some cases, such as chili peppers, the United States production costs are so high that a significant portion of chili pepper products are imported. Decreases in production costs would favor United States competition in this area.
The introduction of mechanized harvesters to remove vegetable and fruit crops from plants and trees or mechanically pick up crops which have fallen on the ground often results in a crop intimately mixed with twigs, leaves, and the like which decreases the quality of the crop; these contaminants cannot be readily removed by techniques such as screening or air separation. As mentioned above, costs of hand labor separation would add significantly to production costs. Mechanical separators used to separate agricultural products such as those which separate smooth objects from those with friction creating surfaces (U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,783), have the disadvantage that they are only of use with products having smooth surfaces such as peas, lentils, and the like. Sorters which separate by impaling objects such as sugar beet tailings on spines to separate them from material not impaled (U.S. Pat. No. 1,747,625) have the disadvantage that vegetables and fruits would be damaged by the impaling.